Firefighters help woman robbed while giving aid

EVERETT — A Marysville mom whose rent money was stolen from her car while she provided medical aid to an elderly couple injured in an I-5 traffic accident is getting some help from strangers.

Everett firefighters have pledged $750 to help Peggy Ray make up for the cash pilfered from her car Saturday afternoon while she tended to a Kirkland couple, 74 and 69. Their car went off I-5 after the driver apparently had a medical problem, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The Everett Firefighters Association plans to donate $500 and Everett Firefighters Local 46 another $250.

“We’re not looking for publicity,” fire marshal Rick Robinson said Sunday. “We just want to help someone who was doing the right thing.”

Other people have asked about how they can pitch in.

The fire department, at 2811 Oakes Ave., will collect donations made in Ray’s behalf, Robinson said.

Ray, 39, had withdrawn $900 from the bank to pay her rent after working a shift as a Starbucks Coffee Co. manager in Everett. She was on her way to her daughter’s soccer game when she saw the car fly off the freeway and she ran to the couple’s aid.

In hindsight, Ray realizes she didn’t lock her car and she also left her keys and purse behind when she rushed to help. The money was taken from a bank envelope she left on the passenger seat. After the collision, there were roughly 20 people who had pulled over to assist, troopers said.

Ray said she has been touched by the outpouring of concern.

“It’s just so amazing everyone is coming together to help,” she said. “It’s emotional.”

The Washington State Patrol is investigating the theft as well as the accident.

Troopers are asking anyone who witnessed the collision, or who has knowledge of the theft, to call 360-654-1204.

Ray said the sting of the theft hasn’t dampened her community spirit.

“It’s disappointing but I would never stop helping people,” she said. “I would do it again in a heart beat.”